Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Insurers, banks seek opportunities in 'petconomy'
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By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
Insurers, banks and card firms are moving to capture opportunities in the pet industry, as the market is forecast to continue to grow along with changes in demographics.
The size of the companion animal market stood at 1.8 trillion won in 2015 and is forecast to grow to 5.8 trillion in 2020, according to a report from the Korea Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade.
Due to Korea's aging society and an increasing number of people living alone, more households are expected to adopt companion animals. Hence the term “petconomy” ― which combines the words pet and economy ― was coined to refer to industries associated with companion animals.
Insurers are introducing and diversifying their policies regarding pets. Insurance policies which had been limited to dogs now cover cats as well. They are also increasing the amount covered by the policies.
Meritz Fire and Marine Insurance launched a policy for cat owners last month, which covers medical expenses over the cat's lifetime. The policy covers up to 10 million won in expenses for surgeries and hospitalization.
The policy holds through 20 years, and the premium is raised every three years.
Owners of cats aged three months to eight years in Korea are eligible to sign up.
Lotte Insurance and KB Insurance also have pet insurance.
Samsung Fire and Marine Insurance and DB Insurance plan to introduce a system which can identify dogs by their nose prints, in the coming months. This will simplify the process for insurance claims, as currently it is difficult to identify the dogs.
“We expect these insurance policies to continue to increase, as the market for companion animals grows,” Kwon Soon-il, manager at the Korea Insurance Development Institute, said.
Meanwhile, card firms are offering products that provide discounts for companion animal-related purchases.
KB Koomin Card's "petconomy card" offers up to 30 percent in discounts for related purchases, while NH Nonghyup Card's "SolSol card" offers discounts up to 12 percent. The Industrial Bank of Korea's "pet card" offers 10 percent after-purchase discounts for payments at veterinary clinics and related purchases.
Banks are introducing “pet trust funds”.
KB Koomin Bank has unveiled “KB petconomy trust," a new product that allows customers to set up a trust fund for their pets.
The bank hands over the fund to the new caregiver when the animal's owner dies or is no longer able to take care of it.
The owner needs to deposit a lump sum of at least 2 million won, or deposit 10,000 won every month. The limit for the monthly deposit is 10 million won.
The limit for KEB Hana Bank's "PET love trust" is 100 million won.